Senior Grants Officer

University of Queensland; Brisbane; On-site; AUD 107,000 - 116,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

17% super

17.5% leave loading

Flexible and hybrid working options

Job summary

The University of Queensland is seeking two Senior Grants Officers (Pre-Award) to strengthen the quality, competitiveness and compliance of national and international funding bids. Working in an agile, collaborative team, you will guide complex grant rounds from planning through submission and provide senior advisory support to researchers and central teams.

Based at Toowong, you will lead pre-award activities, provide tailored funding advice, and mentor staff while contributing to improved

Qualifications

• Ability to interpret complex funding rules and policy frameworks.
• Experience coordinating competing priorities and tight deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with stakeholders.
• Ability to provide practical solutions on non-standard matters.
• Experience mentoring or leading others.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end pre-award activities for national and international grant rounds.
• Provide advice on funding rules, eligibility, compliance, and pre-award matters.
• Deliver reviews, materials, workshops, and briefings to build grant readiness.
• Mentor staff and contribute to service improvements and process optimisation.

Skills

Funding rules interpretation

Priorities coordination

Communication skills

Judgement & problem solving

Mentoring / leadership

Job description

• Research Office
• 2 full time positions (one continuing, and one fixed term through to September 2027).
• Base salary will be in the range $106,709 - $116,198 + 17% super (HEW Level 7).
• Champion research excellence across diverse disciplines by leading high stakes grant rounds within a collaborative and supportive team environment.
• Move beyond delivery into leadership, where your judgement guides a specialist team and strengthens the bids UQ puts forward.
• Based at our Toowong High Street office.

About This Opportunity

The Research Office is seeking two Senior Grants Officers (Pre-Award) to help strengthen the quality, competitiveness and compliance of UQ’s national and international research funding bids. Working in an agile, collaborative and newly organised portfolio based team, you will partner with researchers, faculties, institutes and central teams to guide complex grant rounds from planning through to submission. This is a purposeful opportunity to step into senior advisory and leadership work, where your judgement, influence and eye for detail will help UQ researchers create change through research that matters.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Lead end to end pre-award activities for complex national and international grant rounds, including planning timelines, coordinating inputs and managing competing priorities.
• Provide authoritative, practical and tailored advice on funding rules, eligibility, compliance and non-standard pre-award matters.
• Deliver high quality application reviews, guidance materials, workshops, presentations and briefings that build grant readiness across UQ.
• Mentor and support less experienced staff, contribute to a positive team culture, and identify opportunities to improve systems, workflows and service delivery.

Additional requirements:

• Occasional travel to other UQ campuses.
• Additional working hours during peak periods.
• Leave restrictions during peak periods.

About You

You are a confident and collaborative professional who enjoys working in a fast paced environment where quality, stakeholder relationships and sound judgement matter. You bring a strong advisory mindset, can navigate complexity with confidence, and are motivated by helping researchers secure funding that delivers meaningful impact.

• Demonstrated ability to interpret and apply complex funding rules, guidelines and policy frameworks.
• Experience coordinating competing priorities, managing deadlines and delivering high quality outcomes in a deadline driven environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to provide advice, deliver presentations and build trusted stakeholder relationships.
• Proven ability to exercise sound judgement and provide practical solutions on complex or non standard matters.
• Experience mentoring, coaching or leading others, and contributing to service improvement, process optimisation or operational excellence.

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, working together to create a better world. In 2025, UQ News highlighted the continuing impact of research funding, including a UQ researcher receiving $450,000 from the Passe & Williams Foundation to improve health outcomes for patients with a rare form of cancer. Read more about UQ research grants. Join a community where excellence is at the core of our culture, contributions are valued and a range of benefits and rewards are available.

Enjoy up to 17% super, 17.5% leave loading, flexible and hybrid working options, health and wellbeing programs, a heavily discounted Study for Staff program and salary packaging.

Other Information

Pre-employment checks may include verification of the right to work in Australia and criminal history checks. This may also include checks relating to gender-based violence matters or other integrity and conduct requirements.

You must maintain unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Employer sponsored work rights are not available for this appointment.

We’re dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We recognise that career pathways and opportunities differ, and encourage applications from candidates who may not meet every criteria but can demonstrate their potential relative to opportunity. We’re also happy to support any accessibility needs throughout the recruitment process. Just let us know how we can help by emailing [e-mail] or calling [phone].

Applications close Wednesday 21 October 2026 at 11.00pm AEST (R-67442). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for 29 October 2026.